Shoe-stiffener blank.



0. R. WITTER.

SHOE STIFFENER BLANK.'

APPLICATION FILED Nov. I2. Ism.

Patented oet. 29, 191s.

narran enanas rie-Tunai camion.

OSBORNE IR'. WITTER, 0F SWAMPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIG-NOR OF ONE-HALF TO AUGUST H. GOETTING', OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

sHoE-sTIFFENEn BLANK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patenten oet. se, raie..

Application led November 12, l191'?. Serial No. 201,416.

To allwhom t may concern:

Be it known that' I, OsBoRNE R. W1TTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at,

' conform to portions of a last without liability oftearing the pulled over portion, the cost of the blank being materially less than that of any blank heretofore known, so far as I am aware, having the above-mentioned characteristics.

The invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part' of this specicat1on,-

Figure 1 isa side View of a box-toe blank embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side view of a heel counter blank.

Fig. 4 is an enlargement of a portion of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Figa 3, showing by dotted lines one edge portion of the blankturned or molded to form a counter flange.

The same reference. characters indicate the same or similar parts in all of the gures.

My improved stiHener includes an inner layer 12 made from a vulcaniza'ble compound containng rubber, sulfur and suitable ingredients giving body to the layer. The said ingredients may comprise ground frictioned fabric such as duck or canvas (waste pieces bein employed),'lime, and litharge, the severa ingredients being proportioned to produce a compound which will be rendered semi-hard by vulcanization. Iv use a greater proportion of sulfur than would be used in a compound which is relatively elastic when vulcanized, my aim being to produce a relatively cheap compound which is waterproof and has sufficient stiE- ness to resist crushing pressure.

To one side of the layer 12 `I apply an outer layer 13 o`f textile fabric, such as relatively thin duck or canvas, the preferred grade being what'is known as eight-ounce duck, although I may use either lighter or heavier fabric. The layer 12 is applied to the layer 13 before the composition of the layer 12 is vulcanized, the outer layer 13 being preferably frictioned and thus not only rendered waterproof, but also adapted for firm union to the inner layer by the simultaneous vulcanization of the frictioning material and of the material' of the inner layer. The assembled layers are then subjected to vulcanizing heat and pressure and are thus caused to adhere firmly to each other, the inner layer at the same time being rendered semi-hard and adapted for reduction by a skiving knife.

I next skive the inner layer 12 from its relativel thick central portion to the margin of t e outer layer 13, and thus provide the blank with a flexible edge formed mainly by the margin of the outer layer,`which margin has a sufficient degree of tensile strength and is waterproof because of the frictioning material. l

The portion of the blank formed by the marginal portion of the outer layer and the skived portio'n of the inner layer, is flexible and extensible, its flexibility and extensibility decreasing from the margin of the blank inwardly, so that the central portion of the blank is relatively thick and stiff and is adapted to resist indenting or crushing pressure when the blank has been conformed to a last, while the margin is adapted to be stretched and pulled over into conformity' adapted to resist pressure` tending. to indent` its outer surface.

Whlle I do not limit myself to any particular compound for the layer 12, the compound may be composed of the following in- 'gredients in substantially the following proportions by weight:

Ground fabric, twenty-five parts, Ground cured scrap rubber, twenty-five parts,

Reclaimed rubber, fourteen parts, Litharge, one andone-half parts,

Lime, one part,

Red oxid of iron, or other coloring matter,

ten parts,

Asbestos ber, seven parts,

Sulfur, one and one-half parts.

When the invention is applied to a heel counter l have found it advisableto mold the blank into a formed counter before insertion of the same into a shoe, and therefore to provide means which will hold the same in its molded form and resist the tendency due to the resilence of the material to revert to the form of the blank. lhe means for accomplishing this further result consists in a composition which is applied in a plastic state to the skived edge of the blank which later-,forms the flange of the molded counter; such composition when dried or cooled being firm and having a binding effect upon the molded flange.

Suitable com ositions for this purpose are compounds con aining glue or paraflin wax, or other materials of the sort which become Huid when heated or dissolVedor/becomes solid upon cooling or drying. The lower skived edge of the blank made in the manner previously described, is coated at 14 with such a compositiomand thereafter the blank is formed in a counter-molding machine, the dies of which are preferably heated in order to soften the composition-while the molding action takes place, permitting the coated edge of the blank to be turned inward or outward, as the case may be, to make the fiange of the counter, without cracking. The composition thereafter hardening, retains the counter in its molded condition.

I claim:

1. A shoe stii'ener blank including an inner waterproof layer composed of a compound Ycontaining rubber and sulfur rendered semi-hard by vulcanization, and at the same time prepared for marginal reduction by a skiving knife, and an outer layer yof flexible and extensible textile fabric united to the inner layer by the vulcanization of the latter, the inner layer being marginally skived to render the marginal portion of the blank relatively flexible, extensible and conformable, while the central or body portion is relatively stiff and adapted to resist crushing pressure.

2. A shoe stiffener blank including` an insignature.,

the frictioned outer layer, the portion of the l. blank formed by the marginal portion of the outer layer and the skived portion of the inner layer being flexible and extensible, and

its flexibility and extensibility decreasing from the margi-n of the blank inwardly, so that the central portion of the blank is relatively thick and stiff' and adapted to resist' crushing pressure, While the margin is adapted to be stretched and pulled over into conformity to surfaces of a last, the tensile strength of the outer layer enabling said portion to withstand pulling over strains.

3. A shoe stifi'ener blank including an inner Waterproof layer composed of a com pound containing rubber and sulfur rendered semi-hard by vulcanization, and an outer layer of exible and extensible textile fabric united to the inner layer by the vulcanization, of the latter, the inner layer being marginally skived and having upon one of its skived portions a coating of material which is normally solid and is adapted to be renderedfluid or plastic. y

4. A shoe sti'ener formed from .a blank including an inner waterproof layer com- Y' posed of a compound containing rubber and sulfur rendered semi-hard by vulcanization,

andan outer layer of flexible and extensibletextile fabric united to the innerlayer by the lvulcanization of the latter, the inner layer being marginally skivedl and the blank being molded into the desired shape, one of the skived marginal portions forming a flange, and said flange being coated and retained in form by a binding composition.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my osBoRNn n. Wirren.' 

